Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is fighting against his extradition to the U.S. and could avoid his fate for more than a year, according to injunctions his lawyers filed Monday.
El Chapo’s counselors argued that in Texas, there is “insufficient evidence” to try him and that in California, the crimes he is accused of are past the statute of limitations. The cartel kingpin is facing a laundry list of major federal charges that would likely land him behind bars for life. U.S. authorities have agreed to take the death penalty off the table to ensure the Mexican government extradites him.
The Mexican Supreme Court may end up deciding El Chapo’s fate if his lawyers’ injunctions are deemed illegitimate and the extradition must be litigated further.
The extradition process of El Chapo officially began in May when two Mexican federal courts along with the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the behest of the Mexican government, decided to approve the U.S. requests. El Chapo was re-captured by Mexican authorities in January after having been on the run since July 2015 after a gutsy jailbreak.
The cartel founder escaped Altiplano Prison in July when he fled through an underground, almost mile long tunnel. While on the run, El Chapo conducted an extensive interview with actor and activist Sean Penn for Rolling Stone.
El Chapo is wanted in multiple U.S. jurisdictions including the Eastern District of New York which is reportedly an information hub in building a case against the Mexican drug lord. The Brooklyn federal courthouse which El Chapo may be tried in is connected to a prison via underground tunnel through which high-profile prisoners are taken to court.
Justice Department officials are building a case which will involve the testimony of many former rivals and employees of El Chapo. El Chapo’s chief lawyer, José Refugio Rodríguez, is hoping that he can postpone his client’s extradition by up to three years at most.
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